Pages

Categories

SOCIAL MEDIA

22 May 2016

Lost and Found: The Tale of a Ring

And lost, and found, and lost, and found, and lost, and found...repeat ad infinitum.

I've mentioned my ring habit before, and was recently asked to do a 'ring update' post, which felt appropriate, since I've lost 1 and gained 3 rings since my last post about rings. Let's start by talking about the troublemaker on my right pinky.

Pinky, stainless steel: This was a Christmas present I picked out for myself, and I did a bad job picking out the right size, because although it seemed like it fit in the store, it's a rather loose fit and this ring has a habit of falling off regularly. It falls off while I'm sleeping almost every night--Angel always makes the bed in the morning and finds it somewhere in the sheets or on the floor and puts it on my dresser for me to put it back on. This ring has also fallen off in the car, at the mall, in the movie theater, at the bowling alley, at the park, and at the grocery store. Somehow, each of those times, I have felt or heard it in the course of its attempted escape and have found it and put it back on again. I'm impressed that it hasn't been permanently lost in the 5 months since Christmas. I know one of these days it probably will disappear forever, but so far I've always managed to find it, so it's a good thing I'm getting it documented before it's inevitable disappearance. I will be sad if and when it does leave me for good, but it won't be a devastating loss, since the ring cost less than $5.

Ring finger, sterling silver: A birthday gift from my sister Lizzy--18th or 19th birthday, I think? Purchased from a local Malaysian jewelers--a little shop where we've enjoyed getting to know the ladies who run it over the years.

Middle finger, both rings are sterling silver: The top one was a gift from Lizzy. She bought when she lived in Israel, and it says "Rachel and Anna" in Hebrew. The bottom ring I bought for myself in Cambodia last summer.

Index finger, stainless steel: My longest-worn ring, I bought it for myself summer 2009, because I had this friend, Angel, and his mom had given him a spinner ring for his college graduation and I thought it was really cool. So I bought one for myself. This was also really cheap, on the $5 level, a perfect fit, and has been really comfortable to wear all these years. Warning: spinner rings are addictive, purchase at your own risk.

Index finger, sterling silver: I purchased this one for myself in Cambodia last year.

Those are my rings at present. Am I done? Probably not. I'm never opposed to adding to the collection. I'm a little picky, though--my rings have to be tough, because I rarely take them off, so they have to be able to stand up to hard usage. I don't like stones (other than my milestone rings), or any other design that will catch on things. I generally prefer silver in color, which is why most of my rings are stainless steel or sterling silver. Rose gold is another favorite color, but then that makes for a much more expensive ring, so that's why I haven't acquired any more rose gold rings yet. I purposely don't wear rings on the finger next to my wedding set to avoid scratching or damaging those, but I'm thinking of stacking one or two more skinny bands on my right hand whenever I stumble across the right ring.

On another note, do you know how awkward it is to take photos of your own hands? I performed a scientific study, and found that on a photography awkwardness scale, it hasn't quite reached the level of 1) X-rays, 2) Kissing photos, or 3) Photos taken of you while you are giving a speech....but it's still pretty high up there. That's why I included every single one of the 4 photos I took of my rings in this post, even though just two could have gotten the job done, because I wanted you to have the same experience of awkwardness that I did. You're welcome.

I love all of those rings! I went through a ring phase and wore tons all the time, but now I only wear my engagement ring. I hate it when rings don't fit properly, I'm impressed it hasn't been lost yet!

Pretty, and I loved reading about the story behind your rings! I'm totally with you on the awkwardness of taking photos of my own hand (I usually end up deleting because they just end up looking way too weird). I don't really wear any rings, but for a time, I had one that had "live with no regrets" stamped on the inside! I can't find it anywhere though. :'(

Love the stories behind each ring. I used to wear my wedding rings to bed, but over the past couple years I've gotten into the habit of taking all my jewelry off and now can't stand to wear any of it while I'm sleeping!

I love your rings, Rachel!! Rings have never really been my thing so when I got engaged and suddenly had a sparkly diamond ring on my finger it took me a long time to get used to it! Now I feel weird without it. :-) I only wear my engagement ring, because we are saving up for my wedding band. We got married with a little sterling silver ring that didn't quite fit with my engagement ring (my engagement ring is asymmetrical so my wedding band needs to be specially designed which is pricey) and so I am looking forward to someday getting my wedding band specially made. But it is so far down on my priority list! Ha! I guess I would rather buy a ticket to Europe than buy my wedding band right now...ha ha!

I never wore rings until getting married. I swam competitively my entire life so wearing jewelry regularly wasn't all that practical since I would need to take it off everyday. I remember my finger itching when I first put on my engagement right. HAHA. Thankfully that when away easily. I like wearing rings now but I'm technically not supposed to wear my rings to work (stones = food safety hazard) so sometimes I'll go days where I don't put it back on.

It's so cool getting these inside stories on your rings. I used to wear a lot of them too but after I got married I stopped. It wasn't something I decided to do, I just slowly noticed I didn't wear the others as often.

So many beautiful stories behind these rings! I've got one from my high school and college graduation, and it's nice that these pieces of jewelry can remind us of such events, isn't it? Yours sure have some stories to tell. :)

HAHAHAHAHA Rachel you are hilarious and my how I've missed reading your posts. I've been caught up in a number of things lately and just getting my posts out has tapped my brain power. I, sadly enough, had to put two of my rings away, permanently, the two from my left hand ring finger. I will save them for my girls just as my mama did for me. They were by far my most favorite rings. I also have a ring my sister got me that I rather love, but I've left my hands bare lately. I have a dream of one day buying myself a really nice right-handed I Am Woman Hear Me Roar ring. I don't like huge stones either but I love sparkle. And spinner rings make my world go 'round!! :)

I love your rings, and I love that they all have meaning to you. Is it weird to say your hands are cute? My hands look like old prunes and I'm not old or a prune. I blame it on harsh cold Illinois winters and being a germaphobe.You had me laughing with your scientific study, thanks for taking one for the team. :)XOXO www.mrsaokaworkinprogress.com

Silver ring with Black Hills gold flowers that I bought when I was 7. It was like $60 or $70, a lot for a little kid, but I was good at saving my birthday/Christmas money. This was during our family's cross-country road trip to move from California to South Carolina. I'm pretty sure I bought it at the Mall of America. I wear this on my right ring finger.

Silver heart ring. It's a bunch of alternating hearts, not solid. I bought it in middle school at a silver jewelry party for maybe $10. Right ring finger.

Yellow gold ring with two small pearls and two tiny diamonds. This was a Christmas present from my parents when I was 16. Right ring finger.

Some sort of fine silverish metal with a lab-created alexandrite and diamonds, my high school class ring. I forget if it's white gold, or a silver-platinum blend, or what. The alexandrite is my birthstone. My parents bought me this my junior or senior year. Right ring finger.

White gold with diamonds. I inherited this ring when my grandmother died. A few months after her death, the close family members got together to go through her jewelry and some of her clothes. The oldest grandmother inherited the engagement ring. I picked this one because it was my dad's favorite. I wear it on my right pinky finger.

My engagement ring is palladium with a lab-created light blue diamond and two lab-created sapphires. My wedding band is blue titanium. I don't wear them together, just one at a time on my left hand.

When my mom died, I inherited her engagement ring, which I wear on my pointer finger on the right hand.

Earlier this year, I bought a silver-plated bow ring that I wear on my pointer finger on my left hand. I need to replate it, though.

Obviously I don't wear all of my rings at the same time. Also, I have several other rings that are precious to me that I don't wear because they're too big. My ring finger is currently a 4 1/4, and I just don't want to buy spacers for all of my rings or pay to resize them. I use spacers on my two inherited rings, but I might one day splurge to resize my mom's ring. Even with a spacer on my largest finger, it's loose.

Hello, I'm Rachel. I enjoy colorful hair, quirky fashion, and correct grammar in multiple languages. My heart belongs to a man named Angel and the families we share. We love our community in Southeast Asia and live for the God who loved us first.